Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-19
Trap Shooting as n Test of Skill.

Trap Shooting as N Test of Skill.
The charm OF success in pigeon
shooting, if there is one, consists in
feeling oneself physically upon an
equality with ones neighbors. To
this end men have been known to
spend hundreds Of pounds upon the
purchase Of pigeons for practice only,
and it has often occurred to me that
our young friends up from the coun-
try are hardly in a position to compete
on equal terms under such conditions.
But to my knowledge there is another
and far greater condition OF inequal-
ity. and one which can never be over
come by mere light of nature and
skill, as it is found, even at its best,
in the juvenile game shot. He may
be able to account for three out of four
of his shots throughout the season,
taking every opportunity which offers,
and yet, when he cries "pull' at
twenty-five yards distance he will miss
half his shots, and lose more than
third of his birds. l have looked on
at Hurlingham, years ago, when birds
dropped to the shooting of the win
ner with the regularity of clockwork
within five yards of the trap, and
second shot was not required
throughout, and this was before choke
boring was heard of. These birds
were all struck within thirty-three
yards of the shooters. How often
does the winner succeed nowadays in
killing dozen birds with the first bar
rel, and when such feat is per-
formed, how often is it a novice at the
traps who accomplishes it? Yet the
novice in the field, on the moors, or in
covert, may be a better man than the
semi-professional pigeon shot all the
same, and the whole secret of differ
ence at the traps is in the curious
omission of the novice to comprehend
what he has to perform. This is al
ways definite and always exactly the
same for every shot; and yet the game
shot expects that the gun with which
he is successful on the average at all
distances will be equally successful at
a specified range only, at which, to
win, he must be deal better than his
average at game. He will probably
be handicapped at distance which
will enable him to shoot at his bird
with the first barrel at thirty yards
every shot. He will find it necessary
to do this in order to get in the second
barrel in case he misses with his first,
aud yet, he will probably shoot with
first barrel and a charge which
would smash a pigeon at forty yards,
and, as a consequence, would not al
low nine inches of inaccuracy of aim
at thirty yards.
The old pigeon hands know all
about this. They know that quick
ness, which is necessity, and abso-
lutte accuracy, which is not, are in
compatible, and they therefore sacri-
fee the latter for the former, and have
their guns bored and charged in that
manner will admit without danger
the most inaccuracy Of aim in the first
barrel, and, consequently, nearer
range for the second. This care be-
comes an absolute necessity bofore a
competitive examination between the
novice and the experienced pigeon
shooter can be regarded ,as fair COM
parison of respective skill in marks
manship. 1t is a very poor shot
indeed who cannot hit sitting mark
with snapshot with a full choke-bore
at forty yards; but not one crack shot
in a hundred who can put the centre
of the pattern on the mark in snap
shooting at that distance.
Now, we must use a full choke for
the second barrel, at all events and we
must take careful aim with it, for We
cannot afford to add an inaccuracy of
aim, as in snap-shooting, to that mac
curacy of calculation which occurs in
all shooting. For it must be remem-
bered that the killing circle of full
choke-bore ut forty yards is rarely
larger than one of 26 inches diameter,
allowing only the margin of its radius, |
/. e., l3 inches for inaccuracies of all
descriptions.
This I3 inches of accuracy many |
men, who are fair shots at game, will
make with a rook rifle ut so yards, in |
which the sighting arrangements are
exact. And yet, with the more inn
perfect sighting of the shotgun, and at
a moving object instead of a still one,
the same men expect to shoot well
with the shotgun where nearly the |
same measure of inaccuracy insures a |
miss.
/ would suggest, then, to young men |
anxious to perform as well as their
that they should first see
whether they can make quick center
shots at the plate, shooting the first
barrel at thirty yards and the second
at forty yards. Ii they can manage
this they may hope for success, pro-
vided they then go in for a regular busi-
ness of gun and charge regulation. The |
object, of course, should be to obtain
the largest possible killing circle at
both distances, but especially at thirty
yards. This should be the lagrest, be-
cause it is possible to use size smaller
shot for that distance if plenty of pow
der of the right kind is employed.
This, in order to avoid smoke and get
regular ty, should be E. G. or S ,hultze:
You will then get in the second ba rrel
FIVE seconds quicker than when black
powder is used for the first.-[Ex.